The UAB program, along with three other institutions receiving the Circle of Life Award, will be honored at a ceremony July 21 in San Diego.

“This year’s Circle of Life honorees have made end-of-life and palliative care a key part of their care mission,” said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. “These programs have found new ways to expand the reach of palliative and end-of-life care to patients, families and communities. They are model programs that other hospitals and health care systems can adapt, and we are pleased to recognize the great strides they are taking in providing dedicated, compassionate care.”

Now in its 15th year, the Circle of Life Award celebrates programs across the nation that have made great strides in palliative and end-of-life care. The 2014 awards are supported, in part, by the California HealthCare Foundation and the Cambia Health Foundation. Major sponsors are the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and the National Hospice Foundation.

Following hip fracture increases after a reduction in reimbursement rates for DXA scans led to fewer scans, a UAB physician joined other advocates and successfully lobbied to increase DXA scan reimbursements to better identify and reduce hip fractures.

A new national, multisite study, chaired by a UAB pulmonologist, shows that supplemental oxygen does not reduce mortality or hospitalization for COPD patients with moderately low levels of blood oxygen.